TECH

Stinky dump pledges to stop taking trash trains

James Bruggers
@jbruggers

The operators of the massive, troubled and stinky landfill near Ashland, Ky., announced Tuesday that they will phase out all rail deliveries of out-of-state trash by the end of next year.

Rail volume of waste delivered to the Big Run landfill will drop 30 percent by the end of this year and terminate by the end of 2016, or in 16 months, cutting the dump’s total intake by 75 percent, the landfill announced.

Parent company EnviroSolutions CEO Dean Kattler also said that rail deliveries containing sewage sludge will end within three weeks, although the landfill will continue to accept sludge from local municipalities, including Ashland and Huntington, Ky.

“We have consistently said we would look at every area of our operations to ensure we are doing what is in the best interests of this community and this company,” said Kattler in a written statement “These moves are a balanced and responsible response to concerns that have been raised and we are in discussions with officials regarding how to appropriately reflect this shift in operations in the permit renewal process.”

The announcement comes as the company and local and state officials face lawsuits from angry citizens, pressure from Boyd County officials, and as landfill operators seek a permit renewal from Kentucky environmental regulators amid ongoing odor fines. It was not enough Tuesday to stop the loud demands that the dump be shut down. But it caught the attention of state and local officials who say the concession needs to be fully weighed.

“Our county voted for closure, and the people have spoken,” said Sean Borst, an Ashland resident and the medical director for Regional Endocrine Diabetes Associates there. “Let’s close it and cap it and start rebuilding our community.”

He said the company has lost the trust of the community.

EnviroSolutions “has made promises in the past and they have not kept those promises to our community,” said Borst, who is also a board member of Citizens of Boyd County Environmental Coalition.

The Big Run mega-landfill outside Ashland was intended to be a cash cow for Boyd County, with between 80 and 90 percent of its waste coming from out of state. But The Courier-Journal in May reported that the dump had become a stench-ridden horror for county residents and a challenge for state regulators, who consider it the most troubled landfill in Kentucky.

Boyd County Judge Executive Steve Towler said Tuesday that he sees EnviroSolutions promise as a major concession, and one that further complicates what already has shaped up to be a complicated issue. While Fiscal Court is on record voting to close the dump because of all its problems, he said local officials will need to fully evaluate the company’s new position.

“We have to look at this,” Towler said, adding that he’s not yet backing down from his view the dump should be closed. “We’d be irresponsible not to. We are talking about a lot of revenue, we are talking about a lot of jobs.”

Boyd County has found another landfill in a nearby county to take its trash, but those details are still being worked out, he said.

The Fiscal Court last month called on Kentucky regulators to shut down the dump, even though it provides more than $1 million in local revenues, much of it from trash coming from states like New Jersey and New York.

The trains themselves were a big part of the problem, Towler said, adding that they were very smelly, moved slowly through town and sometimes blocked road intersections.

“We’ve about eight years into that train traffic, and it’s been constantly getting worse because the (dump) intake was growing.” It’s now taking thousands of tons out out of state waste daily, he said.

Towler said there are several issues at play, including a new lawsuit filed Friday, that could help determine the future of the landfill.

Louisville environmental attorney Tom FitzGerald filed that suit on behalf of the citizens group in Boyd County Fiscal Court on Friday, claiming that state and county officials illegally authorized an expansion in landfill capacity and granted the operators a franchise to use the dump for 30 years, without any competitive bidding. Boyd County, the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet and EnviroSolutions subsidiary River Cities Disposal are all named in the suit.

Lawsuits provide only one side in a legal dispute.

The actions announced by the landfill could be a factor in any permit renewal decision, said R. Bruce Scott, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection.

He said state officials are continuing with that renewal process, including a public hearing Aug. 25. County officials are also revising their solid waste management plan, and that revised plan could also play into a permit decision, Scott said.

But state officials have also said if the landfill remains out of compliance, they won’t be able to renew its permit.

The department has assessed the landfill more than $300,000 in fines.

Reach reporter James Bruggers at (502) 582-4645 and follow him on Twitter @jbruggers.